Chapter 373: Is Five Million a Bit Too Much?

Against a base of thirty thousand horses, losing a little over a thousand was not much. Besides, the weather was beyond anyone's control. No one could be blamed for mishaps at sea.

What truly excited Shang Chaozong was something else. Unable to restrain himself, he grabbed Niu Youdao by the arm. "Master Dao, did you say there are a thousand mares among them?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "I would not speak falsely before Your Highness."

"Good!" Shang Chaozong had no interest in discussing anything else. He immediately turned and ordered his men to arrange for the warhorses to be unloaded as quickly as possible. He could hardly wait to see them.

The others were also eager to see the horses. Peng Youzai could not help giving Niu Youdao several more looks. They had asked for ten thousand warhorses, yet this fellow had brought back thirty thousand. He had even obtained mares that the ranches in the State of Qi did not dare sell. His ability was almost beyond description.

For both the two commanderies and Tianyu Sect, this was clearly a good thing. Yet Peng Youzai still felt as though Tianyu Sect had lost face, as though it had been slapped before everyone. Tianyu Sect had spent more than a year struggling without bringing back so much as a horsehair. How would the people throughout the two commanderies look at Tianyu Sect from now on?

"Niu Youdao, are you interested in joining Tianyu Sect?" Peng Youzai suddenly asked in an indifferent tone.

"Hm?" Niu Youdao did not immediately understand what he meant.

Peng Youzai said, "Become one of Tianyu Sect's people, and what happened just now will be over. I can treat it as though nothing happened."

Niu Youdao said, "Would that really be appropriate?"

"You needn't worry about the liquor profits. Whatever share is yours will still be yours. You and my junior brother are sworn brothers, so seniority is easy enough to arrange. Tianyu Sect can grant you a considerable degree of privilege. We won't place too many restraints on you."

Niu Youdao understood. The promised benefits sounded tempting, but there was no such thing as a free gift in this world. He had no roots inside Tianyu Sect. He chuckled. "I'd like to join, but I'm afraid Tianyu Sect wouldn't dare accept me."

Peng Youzai said, "Why wouldn't we? If you dare come, I dare take you in."

"I've made an enemy of Xiaoyue Pavilion."

"..."

Peng Youzai was rendered speechless. He said no more about bringing Niu Youdao into the sect.

Neighhh!

A chorus of horses suddenly rang out, accompanied by the confused thudding of hooves against wooden decks. The ships already alongside the shore had opened the barriers inside their holds. Horses were driven out one after another and down the gangplanks. From dozens of vessels at once, streams of fine horses began pouring ashore.

At the pier itself, no more than ten such large ships could berth side by side. Many more had anchored lengthwise along the shore on either side. Their horses were driven directly down the ramps into the water and waded through the shallows to land, splashing the soldiers standing guard with leveled spears.

The spectacle immediately drew every eye. The people standing on the pier moved back somewhat so they could look from side to side.

"Why do these horses seem a little listless? Their coats are dull as well," Lan Ruoting said with a frown.

From his wheelchair, Meng Shanming said, "They were probably confined aboard ship for too long. They're accustomed to life on land, and suddenly spending so much time at sea has affected their condition. Look at the teeth and the conformation of their chests. They're all fine young horses in their prime. It's nothing serious. Give them some time to recover and they'll be back to normal."

He was indeed a man who had trained cavalry. One glance was enough for him to see the truth. Lan Ruoting cupped his hands, acknowledging the lesson.

By now, the shoreline was gradually filling with the strong smell of horses. Some of those already ashore whinnied happily, finally standing on solid ground again and seeming delighted by it.

Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang came over to Niu Youdao. Wu Sanliang asked, "Master Dao, why haven't we seen Eldest Sister and Duan Hu?"

At the question, Gongsun Bu lowered his head and fell silent. Niu Youdao slowly turned toward the ship on which he had arrived.

Duan Hu happened to appear at that moment. Behind him, two Wuliang Mountain disciples carried a makeshift stretcher. Someone lay upon it beneath a sheet of black cloth.

At the sight of the stretcher, then of Duan Hu's lowered head and desolate expression, Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang both felt their hearts tighten. A terrible premonition struck them.

What had to be faced could not be avoided forever. Duan Hu had finally come out because there was nowhere left to hide.

The stretcher was carried over.

Duan Hu kept his head bowed, unable to face Lei Zongkang and Wu Sanliang.

His voice trembling, Lei Zongkang asked, "Duan Hu... where is Eldest Sister?"

Duan Hu pressed his lips tight and said nothing.

Niu Youdao spoke slowly. "Before we left the State of Qi, we were pursued on the road. To cover our withdrawal, Black Peony and Duan Hu disguised themselves as Hongniang and me and drew the pursuers away. The enemy was too powerful. Black Peony was killed. Duan Hu barely escaped with his life."

Tears spilled from Duan Hu's reddened eyes, large drops rolling down his face. He choked out, "I was useless!"

"Ah!"

Wu Sanliang suddenly kicked Duan Hu to the ground. He rushed forward and kicked him again and again, shouting through grief and rage, "Then how do you still have the face to come back alive?"

Duan Hu lay on the ground without fighting back. He only kept repeating that he had been useless.

"Wu Sanliang!" Niu Youdao suddenly shouted in a deep voice.

Wu Sanliang stopped. His fists clenched at his sides as he lowered his head and breathed heavily.

"You can't blame Duan Hu," Niu Youdao said. "The enemy was too strong. They had five giant flying birds just to pursue the two of them. Even together, Black Peony and Duan Hu couldn't withstand a single move from one of their opponents. Duan Hu's own life was something he barely managed to snatch back. If he hadn't risked everything to save her, I'm afraid even Black Peony's body would have been lost."

The Tianyu Sect party felt a chill on hearing this. Five giant flying birds merely for the pursuit? Tianyu Sect did not possess even one. The strength of the force hunting them was easy to imagine. So too was the danger Niu Youdao and the others must have endured to make it back alive.

Shang Chaozong and the others stared at Niu Youdao as well, unable to imagine what kind of peril they had passed through.

Lei Zongkang had already gone to the stretcher. Slowly, he pulled back one end of the black cloth, revealing Black Peony's face, her eyes peacefully closed. He reached out and touched her cheek.

Ice cold.

"Eldest Sister!"

Lei Zongkang dropped to one knee, tears falling. Wu Sanliang looked only once, then raised his face to the sky and closed his eyes. Tears slid down his cheeks.

Seeing Black Peony's darkened face and remembering the woman who had once smiled and chatted with her, Shang Shuqing had never imagined that their parting would become eternal. She clapped a hand over her mouth, turned away, and wept silently.

Shang Chaozong, Lan Ruoting, and the others also fell into somber silence. They all knew Black Peony had been one of Niu Youdao's trusted people. None had expected her to die in the State of Qi for the sake of their great undertaking. There was little they could say.

The Tianyu Sect people looked from one another to the next. Peng Youzai lowered his eyes. It would be too much to call it sympathy, but they all knew this woman had been Niu Youdao's confidante, and they could understand the mood on his side.

Feng Entai walked over to the stretcher and stared at Black Peony for a while, remembering the days they had spent together in the Qi capital.

"Ah..." He sighed, then reached out and drew the black cloth back over her face.

"Her remains shouldn't be kept out too long. Take her home first. Choose a good place and bury her." Niu Youdao gave the instruction calmly.

The horses continued streaming off the ships. Once one group of vessels finished unloading, they pulled away from shore and another group came in to take their place.

Shang Chaozong personally ordered his men to find the best carriage available on the spot. Lei Zongkang and the others took Black Peony home first, with Shang Shuqing accompanying them. It was not until evening that Lan Ruoting returned with the final tally.

"Your Highness, all the horses have been unloaded. The total is twenty-eight thousand seven hundred and forty-six."

"Good!" Meng Shanming slapped the armrest of his wheelchair in approval.

Shang Chaozong and the others could not remain here any longer merely to keep everyone company. Now that the warhorses were ashore, he had a great many arrangements to make.

The cultivators present naturally would not concern themselves with such miscellaneous work. They neither understood it nor knew how to handle it.

Peng Youzai looked at the countless masts silhouetted in the setting sun, then left Niu Youdao with a single sentence.

"I'll be waiting for your explanation."

He turned to leave.

"Sect Leader Peng, please wait!" Niu Youdao called.

Peng Youzai stopped.

Niu Youdao walked over. "Sect Leader Peng, there are still a few matters to settle between us."

"Settle?" Peng Youzai turned around.

Niu Youdao said, "Tianyu Sect promised that as long as I could bring back the warhorses, Tianyu Sect would pay for them. Does that still count?"

Peng Youzai tilted his head toward one of his people. "Give him two million in gold drafts."

"Two million?" Niu Youdao raised a hand to stop the man from taking out the money. "Sect Leader Peng, are you joking? Where in the world can thirty thousand warhorses be bought for two million?"

Peng Youzai said, "What we agreed on beforehand was that the two commanderies needed ten thousand warhorses."

Niu Youdao nodded. "Fine. If Sect Leader Peng wants to put it that way, I have nothing else to say. I'll leave ten thousand warhorses for the two commanderies. As for the rest, I'm sure there are plenty of people in the surrounding regions who would like them. I hope Sect Leader Peng won't stop me from selling them. Please explain it to His Highness as well. I have no choice. Every horse in this shipment was bought on credit. I haven't paid a single coin yet, and the other side is waiting to collect. I can't simply default on the debt. If you want to default, you can do it yourselves. I don't have the ability."

He raised a hand and pointed toward Lu Lijun and the others nearby.

Peng Youzai glanced at the ghost cultivators. "Where did these ghost cultivators come from?"

"Xianyin Mountain in the State of Qi."

Peng Youzai was slightly startled. "Ghost Mother's people?"

"Sect Leader Peng is perceptive."

Peng Youzai hesitated.

The shipment had exceeded the agreed ten thousand, but so many horses had already reached the two commanderies. Asking them to sell off most of the herd now would be hard to justify from every angle.

"How much do you want?" he asked.

Niu Youdao raised one open palm. "Not much. Five million will do."

The expressions of quite a few Tianyu Sect people changed.

Feng Entai hurried over again. "Third Brother, isn't five million a bit too much? Three million. How does that sound?"

Peng Youzai said nothing. He clearly liked that price as well.

"Three million? Big Brother, how can you even say that?" Niu Youdao nearly sprayed the words into his face. Furious, he said, "Back in the State of Qi, how much trouble did you cause? In the end, every bit of it was dumped on me. For the sake of our sworn brotherhood, I accepted it. Even when it came time to withdraw, I still took your safety into account. I had you take the Tianyu Sect disciples and leave first, without letting any danger touch Tianyu Sect. Meanwhile, to cover your withdrawal, people on my side died and others were wounded! If I'd known it would come to this, I would've let Tianyu Sect deal with the pursuit. I'd like to see how many living people you could have brought back!"

Then he grabbed Feng Entai by the arm and pointed toward the hundreds of large ships anchored along the coast.

"Do their expenses not need to be paid? More than ten ships sank. Do those losses not need to be compensated? To carry the horses, the interiors of these ships were torn apart and rebuilt until they were almost unrecognizable. Do the repairs needed to turn them back into cargo ships cost nothing? How much money do you think all of that takes?

"What sort of men can afford to own great ships like these and use them for trade? Every one of them has wealth and status behind him. Their backers are connected to forces across the various states. Does Tianyu Sect dare default on what they're owed, or do you think I dare?

"Three million? How can you even say it? Where am I supposed to find a shortfall that large now? Will it fall out of the sky, or am I supposed to pick it up off the ground?"

[End of Chapter 373]